Updated below with analysis, commentary, images, and video by Brian Patrick, James Startt, and Whit Yost

SAINT-LARY-SOULAN, July 23, 2014 (AFP) - Rafal Majka won his second stage of the 2014 Tour de France on Wednesday and also extended his lead in the King of the Mountains standings.

And the 24-year-old Pole revealed that it was his team manager Bjarne Riis's tactical nous that helped him both win the tough 124.5km Pyrenean stage and hold onto the polka-dot jersey.

Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez had started the day just a point behind Majka in the mountains classification but picked up 24 points to Majka's 10 over the first three first category climbs.

But the 35-year-old was nowhere to be seen when Majka crossed the line at Saint-Lary at the end of the final Hors Category ascent.

"Bjarne told me not to go for the King of the Mountain points (on the first three climbs), he said 'wait, wait, wait, you'll get double points at the finish'," said Majka.

Majka picked up 50 points for finishing first with Rodriguez coming over the line in 31st place, meaning the Pole now leads Vincenzo Nibali, the yellow jersey wearer, by 31 points.

Nibali extended his overall lead by 49sec to 5:26 ahead of Alejandro Valverde.

French veteran Jean-Christophe Peraud was the big mover amongst the leading six, closing to just 8sec of Thibaut Pinot in third place as he finished alongside Nibali.

On Tuesday morning Peraud was sixth overall and more than a minute behind his teammate Bardet in third.

But the 37-year-old has steadily climbed the standings and with one mountain stage left on Thursday—in which the epic Tourmalet and Hautacam mountains will be climbed—Peraud is in a good position to finish on the podium. He is a better time triallist than any of those competing for a top three finish.

Just as he did in the second of the two Alpine stages, Peraud proved the only rider capable of holding onto Nibali's wheel when the Italian accelerated on the final climb.

"I'm very happy with my form: hanging onto Nibali in the third week! I had the good fortune of having him as a point of reference. He worked with me and I thank him for that," said the AG2R rider, who was ninth at the Tour in 2011.

Peraud spent a lot of time tagged onto Nibali's back wheel but the Italian said that didn't bother him as he put time into Valverde and Pinot.

"For me it was important to gain some seconds. (Peraud) is quite far behind (6:08) so he's not a danger to me," said the 29-year-old Astana leader.

"I was looking to gain time on my main rivals. It was a very tough day so I'm very satisfied with how it went."

Even so, Nibali refused to pop the champagne corks just yet.

"It's true that Valverde lost some time today but he's going well. There's still another tough day tomorrow and then we've also got a 54km time trial before I can weigh up where I am."

A series of different breakaway groups throughout the day eventually ended up with a 14-strong one at the foot of the final climb.

Four men got away before Giovanni Visconti, who like Nibali is Sicilian, took off on his own.

Majka had accelerated a couple of times out of the bunch but Rodriguez refused to work with him and just settled behind his wheel.

But when the Pole went a third time he got clear and gradually chased down Visconti.

The pair rode together for a while before Majka attacked and the Italian, who finished second on the stage, could not respond.

Nibali gobbled up the stragglers from the breakaway group and crossed the line third, with Peraud fourth.

Valverde showed his experience by hanging in when he was dropped by an acceleration from Pinot, that was followed by Bardet and American Tejay Van Garderen.

But Valverde let two teammates pace him back up to the young trio and he even gained 5sec on them with a little burst just before the line.

What It Means
Today’s big GC winner was Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Jean-Christophe Peraud. While the 37-year-old ended Stage 17 in the same place he started it (fourth-place overall), he gained time on everyone but Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali The Frenchman now sits 42 seconds away from Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde in second place overall, and a measly 8 seconds away from FDJ’s Thibaut Pinot in third. Assuming Peraud avoids losing time on the final day in the mountains tomorrow, the former mountain biker could time trial his way to second-place overall during Stage 20 on Saturday.

As for Valverde, he rode brilliantly today. Despite getting dropped midway up the climb to Pla d’Adet, the Spaniard stayed calm, found a rhythm, and kept the group containing Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet, and Tejay van Garderen within reach. By not panicking and riding himself into the ground when he was first dropped, the Movistar rider was able to recover enough to not only catch the trio, but attack them and gain some time as well. It was a savvy ride by the Grand Tour veteran, one that preserved—for now, at least—his second-place spot on GC.

Van Garderen Is Back and Ready to Fight

So with one day left in the Pyrenees, there two races to keep an eye on. First, the battle for the podium is still alive and should go all the way down to Saturday’s time trial. Valverde and Pinot need to rid themselves of Peraud on the climb to Hautacam tomorrow if they wish to hold-off the Frenchman Saturday. It’s as simple as that.

Second, there’s the race for the white jersey as the Tour’s Best Young Rider currently being played-out between Pinot and Bardet. Pinot has a 1:34 advantage over his compatriot and is playing it smart by focusing on finishing as high as possible on GC. He knows that if he can put himself on the final podium in Paris, the effort will likely be enough to keep the white jersey as well. Bardet needs to keep attacking and hope that he can catch Pinot on an off-day. But with only day left in the Pyrenees, the odds of that happening are looking less and less likely.

As for BMC’s van Garderen, he looks to be locked in sixth-place. He recovered well today to finish with Pinot and Bardet, but he’ll need one of them—most likely Bardet—to lose time tomorrow to give the American a chance of pulling himself into the Tour’s top-5 during Saturday’s time trial.

Ride of the Day
What a ride by Tinkoff-Saxo! The groundwork was laid for today’s success by Bjarne Riis telling Rafal Majka to save his energy for the day’s final climb. The Danish sport director knew that with double King of the Mountains points available atop the day’s Beyond Category summit finish, it wouldn’t matter how many points Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez gained on the three climbs preceding it. If Majka could win the stage, he would retain the polka dot jersey. Coupled with Nicolas Roche pacing Majka in the breakaway and holding him back when he sensed the Pole’s youthful exuberance might get the the better of him, the stage was set for the team’s third stage win of the race—and a probable victory in the King of the Mountains competition as well.

Roche on Stage 17's "Huge Battle"

What’s Next
While not as relentless as today’s, tomorrow’s Stage 17 is not to be taken lightly. Two Category 3 climbs will provide the warm-up on the 145.5km trip from Pau to Hautacam, but it’s the Beyond Category climbs of the Tourmalet followed by the climb to the finish line in Hautacam that will cause the day’s biggest damage.

As we’ve seen over the first two days in the Pyrenees, expect a large breakaway to form early containing men from Tinkoff-Saxo hoping to defend Majka’s lead in the King of the Mountains competition, Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez hoping to attack it, and Europcar riders such as Thomas Voeckler or Cyril Gautier hoping to finally grab their team a stage win. Chris Horner is another rider to keep an eye on tomorrow. The American from Lampre-Merida sits far enough behind the GC favorites that he should be allowed to go on the attack. If the 42-year-old can conserve his energy over the Tourmalet and hit the bottom of the climb to Hautacam with two to three minutes over the yellow jersey group, he could stay away and win the stage.

Expect the few remaining GC contenders to wait until Hautacam to try and re-shuffle things before Saturday’s time trial. The summit of the Tourmalet—while the highest of the Tour’s trip through the Pyrenees—sits 36km from the base of the climb to Hautacam and is therefore too far to serve as a launchpad for a rider like Valverde or Peraud to try and attack. Only Bardet, who needs 1:34 to take the white jersey from Pinot might try something, especially as he’s a more confident descender than his compatriot.

In the end, attacks will come on the final 13.6km climb to the finish—or they won’t if riders spend more time rubbernecking than trying to take matters into their own hands. But that hasn’t been the trend of this year’s Tour. When it’s all said and done, don’t be surprised if Nibali takes his fourth stage win of the race in order to leave no doubts as to which rider was the strongest in the 2014 Tour de France.

Tour Rookie Alex Howes: "Thankful to Feel Alive"

News and Notes
—Majka’s second win of the Tour gives him a relatively commanding lead in the King of the Mountains competition. The Pole now has 142 points followed by Nibali in second with 118. Rodriguez, who clearly misjudged the threat posed by Majka, falls to third with 112. With 79 points available tomorrow, it’s still anyone’s game. In fact, should he win the stage, Nibali could steal the jersey with three days left in the Tour.

—Peter Sagan scored 6 more points in the Points Competition today, bringing his total to 408. He only needs 14 more to break his own record with 422, thereby setting the standard for the most points scored since the rules were changed prior to the 2011 Tour. Rule changes notwithstanding, Andre Darrigade scored 613 in 1959—the most in Tour history. In the modern era, Sean Kelly 434 in 1985, 429 in 1982, and Freddie Maertens scored 428 in 1981. With a stage win Friday or Sunday, Sagan could top Kelly and Maertens.

—ICYMI: NBC was joined in the booth post-stage by Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkoff. The interview was interesting for a number of reasons, but most of all for whom the billionaire hinted would be joining the team next year. While he’s not allowed to name names until August 1st, Tinkoff told NBC that he expects the team to contend for both the yellow jersey AND the green jersey next year. Hmmm…

—This Tour has already had its share of notable “tough guy” rides: Alberto Contador climbing a KoM with a broken tibia, or Andrew Talansky’s 80km solo quest to beat the time cut, but Swiss rider Reto Hollenstein (IAM Cycling) took the cake on Stage 16. He touched wheels and crashed at the start of Stage 16, the race’s longest (with three major climbs to boot). He was forced to chase solo for 60 kilometers just to make contact with the bunch and eventually finished in the grupetto. That’s tough. Tougher? On going to the mobile radiology clinic at the finish line, doctors diagnosed him with a partially collapsed lung. Hollenstein, understandably, didn’t start Stage 17.

—Hollenstein wasn’t the only rider to not take the start of Stage 17: Orica-GreenEdge rider Simon Gerrans, still suffering from the effects of his crash at the end Stage 1, did not take the start as well. Katusha’s Simon Spilak abandoned early in the stage, bringing the total number of riders left in the Tour down to 166.

—The weather forecast calls for partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 80s throughout the day tomorrow. So at least the riders have that going for them.